Stephanie McMahon, the WWE Chief Brand Officer opened up on the highly invested concept of the WWE Thunderdome during Forbes’ CMO Summit Virtual Series.
Stephanie McMahon reveals that Thunderdome boosted up the TV ratings
It is not unknown that the WWE’s TV ratings had slumped drastically, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. WWE tried different ways to improve the ratings.
Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the company had moved its shows to Performance Center(now Capitol Wrestling Center) with few NXT talents attending as the fans.
As the mentioned idea failed, WWE moved to Amway Center and joined forces with The Famous Group and invested in the concept of WWE Thunderdome. This enhanced the viewing experiencing of the shows, adding up the TV rating as well.
It saw a new set, pyrotechnics, lasers, graphics, drone cameras, and rows of virtual fans up to 1,000 LED boards.
Stephanie McMahon reflected on the past scenario and how they overcame to increase the ratings once again.
She said:
“And without them [the fans], it’s just not the same. Our ratings fell off. We tried bringing in our developmental talent to see if that would help in terms of some type of audience but it just wasn’t enough, and ultimately we had hoped to be back in arenas in the Fall but when we realized that wasn’t gonna happen, we doubled-down and invested with a new partner called The Famous Group and we now have nearly one thousand virtual fans.”
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Stephanie McMahon on increasing digital viewership
The views of the WWE shows on YouTube and WWE Network have increased with time and Stephanie McMahon said the company is not only focussing on hitting the road again but will also be eyeing to produce more WWE programming on digital platforms.
She said, “We’re very hopeful that there will be a return to live events of course and we will continue to produce our content but additionally, what we’ve seen is a huge increase in digital viewership.”
WWE shows are set to find their new home in Tropicana Field and we will have to see what the new set will look like.
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